In the prior art, kitchen and bathroom fixtures such as paper holders, shelves and towel rods are secured to vertical walls with mounting devices made of various compositions. Generally, the walls are drywall or sheetrock and in some cases include a tile or stone façade. The prior art mounting devices are generally comprised of two pieces. The first piece usually includes a flat plate having angled flanges affixed to the wall with screws or bolts. The second piece is usually a decorative cover affixed to the plate through the use of set screws. The set screws thread through the lower plate and engage the angled flanges. The typical prior art mounting devices are unacceptable because many times, the set screws are small, making them difficult to adjust. Also, the set screws are generally incapable of bearing the load required because of their small size and therefore, are prone to becoming loose and ultimately dislodging from the wall.
Typical of the prior art is U.S. Pat. No. 4,979,713 to Bell. Bell discloses a towel rack mounting device that includes a triangular bracket designed to be mounted on a wall. The bracket has three flanges oriented in a triangular array. The circular base is locked onto the bracket by threading a set screw through the wall of the circular base and into contact with one of the flanges. The remaining flanges engage a groove on the base. The set screw applies pressure to an angled surface which tends to move the circular base and the bracket away from the wall.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,875,903 to Chen discloses a bathroom hanger rack that incorporates a bracket mounted to the wall having an interiorly threaded cylindrical post extending from the wall. A decorative casing is secured to the post with a threaded attachment. A rod extends between two decorative casings and a decorative cap is threaded to the top of each casing.
U.S. Patent Application No. 2002/0088764 to Pan discloses a towel rack comprised of two fastening bases, two retaining heads, and a towel rod. Each fastening base includes a post having two recessed grooves. A first set screw holds the towel rod in a retaining head. A second set screw secures the retaining head to the post extending from the fastening base. The towel rod must be secured to each retaining head before securing the retaining heads to their respective fastening bases. The use of one laterally opposed set screw tends to tilt the retaining head away from the wall and therefore is prone to becoming loose.
U.S. Patent Application No. 2002/0104946 to Lai discloses a structure for holding a towel rack and the like. Two stanchions are included. Each includes a base, a disk, a decorative cover, and a head. Each base is fastened to the wall. Each base includes a center post with an angled notch. The disk covers the base, and the decorative cover engages the disk with tabs. The head engages the decorative cover through additional tabs and is provided with a hole for retaining the towel rod. The center post of the base extends through the disk, the decorative cover, and into the head. A single set screw through the head engages the angled notch in the post and presses the head, the decorative cover, and the disk to the base. The same potential problems exist with the set screw.